


A Field Apart

by SmoakinItUp



Series: Nothin' Like You [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Oliver playing football
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 15:18:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3124982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoakinItUp/pseuds/SmoakinItUp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Okay, even if his arms </i>were<i> that big, still not worth it, Felicity thought to herself.</i> High school, football player Oliver AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Field Apart

“But why?!” She whined as she wrapped her deep red scarf around her exposed neck. After glancing in the mirror to make sure it looked suitable, she turned to rifle through her drawer, trying to find her school spirited hat.

“I haven’t bothered going to a game since freshman year.” She continued on, finally finding her matching red knit hat and shoving it on her head. “And it’s freezing out there…” She muttered to herself, trying to understand why so many of her classmates were excited to stand in the freezing cold for hours to watch mediocre football. 

“It’ll so be worth it, Felicity. We’re playing Starling Prep!” Caitlin replied, practically bouncing on her toes in excitement.

“Exactly! Why exactly are we so excited to see the trust fund brats?” She raised a brow as she watched her best friend roll her eyes.

“Two words,” Caitlin let out a dramatic sigh, practically swooning where she stood. “Oliver. Queen.”

Felicity scoffed, “Oh yes. The king of them all, or should I say _Queen_?” She let out a giggle, imagining the infamous playboy wearing a crown and a flowing cape.

“Oh c’mon Felicity. He’s their quarterback, and oh God, we’re going to get a chance to see him up close! I hear his eyes are gorgeous, and his arms. His arms! Apparently they’re this big!” Caitlin held out her hands, making a ridiculously large circle. 

“Fine. We definitely have to go now, just so we can confirm how crazy those rumors are.” 

As Caitlin turned to walk out of the room, Felicity lifted her hands to a circle, mimicking her friend’s earlier actions. _This big? No way_. She shook her head incredulously before following her friend out into the cold. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Okay, even if his arms were that big, still not worth it_ , Felicity thought to herself, as the screaming students jostled her even more. She was sandwiched between Caitlin and Barry, her two closest friends, somewhere in the middle of her school’s student section. It seemed that the whole school had made it to the game, though it was pretty unclear whom they were rooting for.

Loud cheers erupted as the Starling Prep Chargers gained another first down, mostly in thanks to Oliver Queen’s quick maneuvering.

“Wait. Are some of the cheers coming from _our_ section?” She asked in confusion, sure she had heard hollers of excitement from her own classmates. 

Barry only chuckled, “I’m pretty sure _everyone_ is rooting for Queen.” 

“So much for school spirit and loyalty” she mumbled, annoyed by everyone’s apparent love for the enemy quarterback.

She glanced at the scoreboard, wanting to groan in embarrassment for her team. Home: 3, Away: 21. And it wasn’t even halftime yet. 

“Oh come on! This is ridiculous, where is our defense?” Felicity threw her hands up in the air in anger as their opponent gained another first down with a run. 

“Wait, I thought you hated football! Isn’t that why you didn’t want to come tonight?” Caitlin questioned, looking at Barry in confusion. 

He only shook his head with a smirk. “Oh no, Smoaky loves football. She just hates coming to the school games.”

“Oh. And why is that..?”

Felicity glared at Barry in warning, which he promptly ignored.

“Oh, you know. It’s cause the scoreboard is so glitchy.” He winked at Felicity, earning a punch in the arm.

“Glitchy? What do you – “ Caitlin’s question was silenced as the whole crowd seemed to groan in unison. The huge scoreboard at the end of the field had begun to flicker, before completely blanking. 

“Why can’t we just get a new board?!” Felicity asked in outrage, only getting a shrug in response from Barry.

“Hey, you haven’t come to any games in years, they probably don’t know you’re here!” 

“They? Guys, what are you talking about?” Caitlin was getting frustrated, not quite used to being in the dark. 

“It’s a long story,” Felicity sighed, as a pause was called to the game. The two teams returned to their respective sides to huddle with the coach, and the crowd seemed to get restless, itching to get back into the action.

“What have they done the last few times?” She asked Barry, curious to know how they functioned without her.

“They usually can’t get it back up, so everyone has to keep manual score. And we don’t get to see the clock.” He said with a frown. “And then usually the next day they’ll get some technician to come in.”

Her musings were cut short as the announcer’s voice sliced through the cold air. 

“Felicity Smoak. Calling Felicity Smoak to the scoreboard. Please.” 

Her eyes grew wide. How did they know she was here?

“Oh my God!” Caitlin burst out into laughter. “They’re asking you to go down and fix the board! This is why you hate games!” She held a hand up to cover her mouth, trying to tone down her laughter, but was unsuccessful. 

“It literally makes no sense. How can I be the only one here who knows how to fix it? And how do they know I’m here? Do they have freakin spies or something?” Her eyes darted around suspiciously before Barry subtly nudged her to the closest aisle way.

“C’mon Smoaky. The team needs you!” He grinned encouragingly.

“I’m pretty sure I’d be doing _everyone_ a favor by not helping them broadcast this epic beat down.” She responded, rubbing her eyes before finally conceding. She turned and slowly made her way out of the crowd, only turning back to glare at her still-laughing friends.

It wasn’t like she didn’t like helping people. She usually loved fixing and putting things back together. And she was especially good when it had anything to do with wires. Her teachers had known her natural ability, and the first time the board had gone down her freshman year, they had begged her to help. Of course, she was able to get it up and running in no time. But walking all the way to the board, in front of everyone, and climbing up the ladder… She shuddered, hating the feeling of being watched by so many. 

Also, after the first time she helped, she had been bombarded with requests from her peers. “Can you fix my phone? My computer is acting funny, help? Can you hack the school and change my grade?” It had gotten fairly ridiculous, and she quickly retreated to hiding whenever someone approached her. She had even stopped coming to all the games, knowing how troublesome the board could be. 

Of course, the one time she comes… the one time _Oliver Queen_ is here… She shook her head in disbelief and continued down the steps towards the field.

She walked briskly as she made her way around the track towards the board. Since there were no players on the field, she knew eyes would be drawn to her moving figure, and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally made it to the dreadful scoreboard, where one of the teachers stood waiting.

“Felicity, dear! How lucky are we to have you here tonight? Thank you for helping!” 

Felicity offered a small smile. “It’s no problem at all Ms.Kaley.” She might not have been eager to help, but her mother did teach her manners after all.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she stepped onto the ladder and slowly made her way up. _Just don’t look down_ , she reminded herself. Considering her fear of heights, it wouldn’t be the smartest idea. 

She finally made it to the back of the board and opened the loosely screwed in panel. Quickly putting herself to work, she fixed the wiring that had caused the issue in record time. Before she knew it, she was back on solid ground and getting a warm pat on the back.

“Ahh you’re a hero, Ms. Smoak!”

“That’s a bit extreme, Ms.Kaley. It really was nothing. Enjoy the game.” She gave another small smile before turning on her heels and making it back to the crowds.

She knew the moment the board came back alive because of the cheers. _Good_. They wouldn’t notice her in their excitement. 

She was halfway to her destination when she felt eyes on her, making her step stumble. Glancing back she noticed the players were resituating themselves on the field. She scanned the field, wondering what drew her attention when she suddenly locked eyes with one of the enemy players. Even from this distance, she could see his startling blue eyes and what seemed to be a smile. Glancing down, she saw his jersey proudly yielded the number 5. She quickly glanced back up at his face. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have said he winked at her. But that was impossible. Because number 5? Yeah that was Oliver Queen. 

She shook her head, reminding herself not to be ridiculous, before she continued to make her way back to her friends. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh, that was just too awesome of a game! Oliver Queen was amazing, epic really!” 

Felicity rolled her eyes at Barry’s enthusiasm, chuckling when he couldn’t keep still and ended up bouncing on his toes as they waited in line. After the game had finally wrapped up, they decided to fill up their empty stomachs at Big Belly Burger. Fortunately, since many of her peers were out partying to forget their crushing loss, the line wasn’t too crazy.

“Really though! All of his passes were perfect.” Felicity was pretty sure she could see hearts in Caitlin’s eyes at this point.

“C’mon guys, you’re being a little ridiculous. He’s probably not even that good, our team just _really_ sucked tonight.” They were probably distracted by his eyes, she thought, blushing as she remembered just how blue they were.

“I mean, yeah your team didn’t look so hot tonight,” She froze the moment she realized the voice was much too deep to belong to Barry, “but still, I like to think I’m _pretty_ good.” 

She slowly turned around; only to come face to face with the very person their conversation had been revolving around. 

The pictures she had seen didn’t do him justice, as she took him in. He stood nearly a foot taller than her, and was out of his forest green uniform. Now he simply wore jeans and a black tee that showed off his defined muscles.

When her eyes finally connected back to his, she flushed in embarrassment. He was smirking, clearly aware of her blatantly checking him out. 

“Well you might have great skills.” He raised a brow. “Football skills! But I wouldn’t know because the game didn’t really highlight your talented hands.”

Wow. Her brain was something else. 

“So I’m just gonna stop talking and order now. I wish I could say it was nice talking to you.” And with that, she spun on her heel and approached the counter, ordering her usual burger with a milkshake. 

She avoided eye contact with both Oliver and her laughing friends as she navigated the restaurant searching for an empty booth. 

Soon her friends joined her, still laughing at her embarrassing blunder. She huffed, deciding to ignore them and focus on her phone instead. 

“’Lis, it’s fine. I think he likes you!” Barry said, enthusiastically ripping the phone out of her hands. “See, he keeps looking over here!”

And sure enough, when she lifted her head, she found Oliver Queen staring at her. _Again_. She quickly ducked her head down, blushing for what seemed to be the millionth time that night. 

“Can we not talk about this? Let’s just eat and get out of here.” She mumbled. They didn’t have to wait long for their food to come, and thankfully they stuck to a much safer topic for conversation – the idea of a particle accelerator. 

“But just think of all the new things we could-“ Barry was cut off by Caitlin’s squeal. 

“Ronnie and Iris are here!”

Felicity motioned for them to go. “Get out of here you guys,” They hesitated, looking guilty. “Seriously, I want to go home and catch up on some things. I’m too tired to deal with all of your guys’ craziness” She smiled, assuring them it was okay.

After exchanging quick hugs, she watched her friends join their crushes before turning back to her food to finish it off. 

She had about a minute alone before she felt someone slide into the seat across from her. Thinking it was Barry, she scolded him without even glancing up.

“Barry, I’m fine. Go woo Iris,” There was a beat of silence, forcing her to look up.

“So does this mean that guy isn’t your boyfriend?” She narrowed her eyes at Oiver, unsure what game he was trying to play. 

“It means, it’s none of your business.” He smirked at her sass, unnerving her even more. She squirmed in her seat, a result of both her discomfort and desire from his observing gaze. “What are you even doing here?” 

“Well, my friend Digg is good friends with Carly, the waitress,” He nodded towards a guy chatting to the waitress who had delivered their food. He was wearing a Starling Prep Varsity jacket, immediately informing her that he was also part of the football team. “So I’m just waiting for him. And I wanted to get to know you better.” His toothy grin had Felicity giving a small smile back.

“But we don’t know each other at all.” She responded, not expecting him to eagerly shake his head.

“I’m Oliver Queen, and you’re Felicity Smoak” He held out a hand for her to shake. She took it slowly, not expecting the warmth his hand would offer.

“Wait. How do you know my name?” Dread settled at the pit of her stomach.

“I remember seeing you at the game. And the announcer called your name quite a few times,” He said with a laugh.

She couldn’t fight the crushing disappointment she felt. She should have seen this coming; she scolded herself as she quickly gathered her things. It’s exactly what happened _last_ time. 

“Wait, are you leaving?” His hand settled over hers, slowing her down.

“Look, you seem nice and all, but I won’t change your grade, and I’m really too busy to fix your phone, or computer, or tablet, or whatever it is you needed from me.” That’s all anybody ever wanted once they saw her talent.

“I don’t remember asking for any of that.” She finally stopped, looking up at him. “Despite your lack of confidence in my talent, tonight was probably one of the best games I’ve ever played.” She raised a brow, curious to see where he was going.

“And it was kind of due to my focus on impressing a girl I saw on the field. You see, she’s beautiful and seems incredibly intelligent and _way_ out of my league.” He paused, waiting for her to say something.

She wished she could say she had a snappy comeback, but she just sat there gaping. 

“Are you… too busy to go on a date with me?” His grin twitched with nerves, and she found herself slowly returning the smile.

“Well, I guess we’re pretty lucky that we ran into each other here.” She commented, rather than directly answering. 

“It certainly made things easier for him.” A new voice entered the conversation, as Oliver’s teammate patted him on the back. “Hi, John Diggle.” He held out a hand for her to shake.

As she accepted it, she replied with a still bewildered “Felicity Smoak.”

“Oh I know. This kid over here wouldn’t stop talking about you. When we first got off the field, he told all of us he was going to transfer to your academy.”

“Digg!” Oliver interrupted, a blush quickly creeping up his neck. 

“And then we told him he didn’t have the brains to get in.” He went on, ignoring Oliver’s panicked look. “Pretty sure his next plan was to just hang around your campus.” 

Felicity couldn’t hold back her laugh; amazed at the turn her night had taken.

“You know, that could be considered pretty creepy. How do I know you’re not a stalker? Or an axe murderer?” She made sure to keep her voice light, ensuring that he knew she was kidding.

“Or you could call it determined?” He grinned cheekily. “I wasn’t going to follow you around! I just- felt a connection. And I thought it would be a shame to waste it.” 

She laughed as Oliver turned to Diggle, shooing him away and urging him back to Carly.

“So how about it?” He asked, turning back to look at her. “Give me a chance?”

…

They ended up having their first date that very night, which was quickly followed by their second the next day. And then, they never really stopped. They even got to spend their 25th anniversary on the very field they first locked eyes on, cheering their son on as he led his team to victory.

**Author's Note:**

> I had a sudden urge to do a highschool AU, and, well I just love a lovestruck Oliver, so walla! Hope you enjoyed!  
> Also, next update of Home should be out in the next few days!(:


End file.
